Westeros Has a Competitor in Litchfield: According to New Nielsen Statistics, ‘OITNB’ Is Almost as Popular as ‘GoT’

By Moze Halperin

June 30, 2016

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As everyone probably knows, Netflix ratings remain one of the greatest TV mysteries: they might release some very obvious information — like about the fact that people binge watch thrillers the most — but as far as how many people watch the actual series goes, the public must rely on guesswork. (At least, for however much time the public would actually want to devote to guessing TV ratings.) And guesswork — based on the pervasiveness of discussions on your social media feeds and such — might lead you to assume that Orange Is the New Black is a pretty well-watched show. Rare stats released today by Nielsen confirm that that’s the case.

Nielsen, the Wall Street Journal Reports, recently provided data to media partners at a conference in Las Vegas; they’re withholding most of the data from the public — releasing it only to studios like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu — except for what those companies want them to reveal. And it’s easy to see why Netflix would want them to reveal stats like this.

Between June 17 and 19, Orange Is the New Black‘s Season 4 premiere was watched by 6.7 million people in the U.S. (the following episode was viewed by 5.9); WSJ says this would put it one spot behind Game of Thrones for most watched cable TV series. So next time you get annoyed at the fact that, as a non-GoT watcher, you have to hear so much about some wood nymph wielding a mace on a unicorn at Hogwarts, rest assured knowing that the story of a prisoner wielding a smartphone and trying to snap pictures of a scorned celebrity chef at Litchfield is almost just as ubiquitous.